Curiosity chases the cat...

Am I a curious person? I think that I can be depending on the season of my life and the area to be explored. My daughter has gotten frustrated with me because she claims that I never get bored. This is true. There are so many thoughts to think and paths to explore. Curiosity is challenging!
I have a two year old in my home. We call her the "Curiosity Kid" because she is curious about almost EVERYTHING! She absolutely enjoys learning new things and that need and curiosity keep me thinking of how to stay one step ahead but what a joy! One of my big fears is something that was mentioned on the video clip, that schools tend to punish and kill curiosity in kids. What schools reward is conformity and regurgitation of facts...not every teacher and not every school but in general.
I love and from little on have been drawn to libraries because a library feeds curiosity. Where else (other than now the internet) can someone find, in one place, an access to explore tangents. Where else can people find resources in visual, auditory, and (especially for kids) kinetic. One of the things I enjoy is checking out the kids and asking them if they found anything interesting? The excitement in their eyes as they tell about the books, movies, toys they've found. It's like a treasure hunt. What a wonderful place a library is!!
As for my curiosity and the web, some of my plans for the future are to learn how to upload pictures into various programs (facebook & blog especially), continue to explore mashups, and become more proficient in some of the sites/programs that I have been introduced to through Adventures in Technology. I hope that these past lessons will continue to be available for review in the future as there are a number of them that I would like to explore in a more thorough manner.
Curiosity doesn't kill the cat, it chases the cat to find out where it goes and what it is hiding. Follow a two year old, you'll see.

Mashing

I found this week's lesson...interesting. I have used numerous mashed sites in the past without knowing that there was an official name for this type of putting things together. The mapping site that I used (to find real estate in Tennessee) is of a type I have used before and find very helpful. On the other hand, in exploring the concept of (myself) putting applications together, I don't think that I am up to that kind of computer workout yet. Even the "easy" Go-Go Google Gadget library connection, although very practical and useful, seemed to need a bit more concentration and computer time than I have right now. I did think that the hooking of LibraryThing (one of my favorite sites) to the library was a possibility that patrons would appreciate.
Although at this time, I don't have time to explore this area more, it is one that I am going to keep in mind for the future. I wonder if perhaps using a map and time/place mashup for the bookmobile would be a helpful possibility. I personally like the visuality of maps.
All in all this was a helpful lesson particularly in giving some vocabulary to a concept I have already used. Thanks!

YouTube

Although I personally am not very familiar or particularly comfortable with making videos for YouTube, I can see some very practical uses for librarians. Some of these would be for classes , perhaps a whole series on teaching techniques or uses of library equipment, promotional material, storytime clips, etc. I enjoyed a number of the YouTube videos that I watched and am amazed at the many historical clips that can be found. As a mother of college and high school students this opens exciting possibilities. One thing I do recognize is the need for documentation if these clips are used in presentations, but I'm not sure where the line is in terms of plagiarism. The great variety of clips is astounding!
As I have seen from my own kids, teens and young adults these days seem to have a good grasp on how to make and include these videos in programs and perhaps it would be good for the library to take advantage in their knowledge of this in putting some promotional clips onto the library website. I think in particular, promotion of upcoming teen activities, children events, and perhaps expanding into some of the senior activities (a chance for inter-generational cooperation).
I could also see how books could be promoted or reviewed, signing could be used, etc. All in all, I see YouTube as a useful tool for libraries to use.

Second Life

O.K. This week's lesson to be was just a bit far out there. It seemed to me to take people into fantasy, which as an escape is fine but has the possibility to remove people from real life interactions. Perhaps I just missed the purpose...design? meetings? Obviously, I don't get how this could be utilized as a major library tool. I think I will have to go back to this lesson and try to figure out what I missed.

Doodle so far...

As of this point, 13 people have responded to the Doodle survey about the materials they use at the library. The greatest use has been in the DVD/video area. I was also surprised how many people read the newspapers. I am enjoying being able to see what people I know (people from my address book) used at the library. Non-fiction and general fiction came up as the next most used. This has been a fun part of Adventures in Technology.

Catching up...

This past weekend I did the last 2 weeks of lessons. As you can see, I added a print version of a podcast onto my blog and 2 podcasts to my Google Reader. At first look, I liked the cleaner look of Podscope but I found that Podcast Alley has a much better search engine...at least for the words I put in. I was pleasantly surprised to find a podcast by one of my favorite curriculum authors. In terms I can see a number of library uses for podcasting: either open/live or post podcasts of various speakers or events that we do, a book talk or book review would be nice, or perhaps doing some classes like our AIT classes.
I am curious if there is a way to link a regular podcast to my blog rather than linking a written form of the podcast.
Jumping back to the previous lesson...
After I wrote on this blog, I went back into the Nashville Library site and did their survey. It seems that they are grappling with some of the same issues in terms of money , time, personnel, etc. that we are. If anyone is interested, please check out their survey. The survey was very simple but I do admit that there were questions that I wanted the "best of both worlds" rather picking an either/or answer. I am hoping that they publish the results of this survey in the coming month or so.

By invitation only?

Getting people to be involved in something that interests you is the main topic for today. I made a survey (http://www.doodle.ch/et5zbebf7mwmmhih) which of course anyone who reads this blog is invited to be a participant. It is the first survey I have ever tried to do online and after seeing how it actually comes out in the formatting, I think I would do it slightly differently next time. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing who actually participates (I specifically invited family and friends) and what the results will be.
I found David Lee King's blog interesting as too often library homepages only give information but do not invite participation. Of the libraries that do invite participation, the Nashville Public Library homepage does a nice job. Information is given, interaction is invited, but the page is not cluttered and especially, not wordy. Instead, pictures and buttons invite the patron to follow down his or her paths of interest. The major problem I saw with David Lee King's blog comments was the casualness of "just add ___ to your blog". The assumption is that one knows HOW to add these things. Not my forte but this class is at least broadening my knowledge and giving me possibilities.
What are people most interested in at the library? RPL has been running quite a number of articles in the newspapers these days. Perhaps (to get a broader base) we can ask people to log on to the library web site and find out what collection, activity, etc. is of most interest to people. If people don't use the library, why not? Is it location, time, nothing there of interest?
All in all, I found the topic of this week's lesson informative and useful both personally and professionally.